Preliminary characteristics of a germanium-based, Compton-scatter telescope

The authors have configured a gamma-ray Compton-scatter telescope from five coaxial germanium detectors in order to evaluate the potential performance of germanium detectors in such devices. Due to their excellent energy resolution (0.20% is obtainable at 1.332 MeV), properly configured germanium detectors can produce the best combination of energy and position resolution of any commonly available detector material. The authors present the results of preliminary measurement including energy, position, and timing resolution. The problem of image reconstruction is considered in detail. Design constraints which can affect the overall performance of the telescope are also discussed